School community yearns for steady water supply

Even with two 1,000-gallon water tanks on the roof of the Boys’ Town Primary School in Kingston, the supply from the National Water Commission (NWC) is still not enough to fill the tanks, or bring relief to surrounding communities during dry spells.

Stakeholders say the situation has persisted despite repeated calls to the National Water Commission (NWC) from the previous councillor for the Admiral Town division and Mark Golding, member of parliament.

Golding, who was present at the school on Monday for the handover of a 1,000-gallon water tank to the institution under the Courts Ready Cash team’s islandwide water tank initiative, promised to renew his calls.

“Issues of water supply, and functioning with water are real challenges for many schools in the country, and indeed, for this constituency. We have many challenges with water, especially in the months where there is no rain,” Golding said.

“Sometimes I feel (that) we are the first to lose our water supply when that happens. And as we have seen, the Boys’ Town Primary & Infant School has a number of water tanks already because they are struggling with the situation. I intend to reach out again to the [National] Water Commission to see if something can be done to secure a better supply for them. But in the meantime, this tank will replace one that is here already, but which is not functioning properly,” he said.

Outlining the severity of the issue, Golding said that a Kingston and St Andrew Rotary Club, in partnership with a sister club from the Washington state in the US, recently funded the replacement of a self-driven pump that runs the well located in the nearby Boys’ Town community.

“As I have said to principal Sylvia Banks Claire, I will be contacting the [National] Water Commission directly to see what can be done to alleviate the lack of supply here,” he said.

In response, principal Banks Claire said, “I’m happy it is now, because our minister now knows that we are not connected to the main, and it’s from the tanks that we get our supply.”

Louise Newland, newly installed councillor for the Admiral Town division, says the situation underscores the critical need for sufficient water supply not only for the school, but the entire division.

“It’s on a regular basis, especially during the summer time – water, no water, no water. Sometimes you have some people that say dem get some, but in like the wee hours in the morning. So [only those] who can ‘bleach’ and get up and get some. But otherwise, it’s a difficulty for many, especially the elders who cannot afford to carry water. We have to be trucking water for them to get it,” Newland explained to The Gleaner.

“I don’t know what much we can do to accomplish this kind of work, because water is life. I hope the National Water Commission can understand and know that we need better and more consistent water supply in the community,” she said.

Marsha Smith, state minister in the Ministry of Education and Youth, further advocated for the NWC to offer better supply to underserved schools across the Corporate Area.

“The NWC’s logo is ‘Water is Life’ and without water, a school cannot operate for many, many reasons, and so we welcome this donation from the Courts Ready Cash team as a part of your islandwide water tank initiative. This a very commendable programme as a part of your corporate social outreach,” Smith said.

ainsworth.morris@gleanerjm.com